Abscondence
by sea-wren-dip-a-tea
Summary: Abscond; (v) to leave hurriedly and secretly. The contender for Miss Teen America makes an unlikely friend in the form of the delinquent repair boy. He shows her a life of freedom away from the pressures of her mother. But the price to pay for a free life is a dangerous life. All Canon Pairings, RUNAWAYS!AU
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This fanfiction was my nanowrimo project, it is the most I have ever written for anything ever in my short lifetime so it has a special place in my heart. It's a fanfiction with many sources of inspiration, the plot is inspired by Beyonce's song 'Pretty Hurts' and I used the TV show 'Toddlers in Tiaras' as research, the plot for the later half is inspired by the musical 'Bugsy Malone', the setting is inspired by an article I read in a torn magazine in my work canteen on the 'Centro di Financiero' in Venezuela. And ALL the characters come from, of course, Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus series. Here you go, this is the pilot chapter and I promise not every Authors note will be this long.

Lights. Applause. A pretty smile that doesn't reach her eyes. A meek unexcited hand wave. Congratulatory words that held no truth.

Then the makeup and the dresses are wiped off and packed up, shoved into a van that Piper is shoved into just as carelessly.

That was the life of a beauty pageant queen, and it was all Piper had known. She had been performing since she was four, eleven years later and Piper didn't enjoy a minute of it. She hated parading around in gaudy outfits in front of a panel of gross middle aged idiots. Ultimately, she hated smiling. Piper smiled, and smiled some more. She smiled constantly like her mouth was surely going to snap from the contortion. Piper was more than just a pretty face, of course. Beauty pageant code demanded that she was able to recite dance routines, twirl batons and gently declare that she wanted world peace. Piper hated that too.

Why?

Because her mother was a scary manipulative queen bee. It was all very subtle, never obvious. Piper was sometimes convinced by her charm. Affie hid everything beneath layers of ulterior motives, like a sickly sweet layer cake. The biggest lie she spun was that she wanted what was best for her daughter because she loved so very deeply. Piper had believed that for years, as a little girl she hung on her mother's every word. Piper began to notice that true maternal love was what mothers in movies did, making lunches in brown papers bags and kissing them goodbye on the cheek as they raced off to catch the school bus. Affie would only smack the airs by Piper's cheek to fake kiss her when she won a trophy, not wanting to smudge her lipstick.

Everyday that Piper grew older, it seemed that her mother had more complaints about her, more flaws to wrinkle her nose at. It became harder and harder to quell the hatred blossoming further in her heart. Her mother was always sharing with Piper little snippets of wisdom about beauty and love. "When people see that you are a kind and polite young lady, they are already on the track to associating you with beauty." Affie would say when Piper was being taught etiquette. Piper thought that maybe the reason she was getting acne was because she was so overflowing with spite.

All her movements were heavy and every effort to pretend happiness dragged her into deeper sadness. The more she faked happiness the harder it became to paint a smile. Piper would lie at night or sit at meals thinking how horrible she was to be so full of hatred. She hated her mother, she hated her life, she hated herself. She hated herself for not having the courage to stand up, to do what she wanted. She was a coward, and a self-aware coward is worse than an ignorant coward. She knew that she was acting cowardly but made no moves to amend it.

Piper was sitting in her bedroom when her mother burst through the door with news. Piper's bedroom was more akin to a trophy room/ dressing room/ walk-in closet. Piper was perched on a pouffe brushing her hair slowly, meditatively maintaining eye contact with her own reflection. Her stupid eyes were too cowardly to decide on a colour, as if to choose blue eyes would offend every brown eyed person. Piper mulled over the selfishness of daring to be unhappy when her world was full of extravagance. She was pulled out of her brooding by her mother's entrance.

Affie smiled proudly, joining the picture perfect image in the mirror. She delicately leaned her chin on Piper's head, snatching the comb from Piper with an impeccably manicured claw.

"You are so beautiful, Piper." Affie elongated her "so" in such a way that she sounded like a teenage girl, and ridiculous, she sounded ridiculous too. Piper smiled as if she didn't believe it and returned the compliment. She had learned at a painfully young age that her mother's happiness fed off compliments, and an unhappy Affie was a force to be feared.

Her mother usually took time to announce important news, dramatically building up suspense. She thought that she was causing anticipation but her blathering had the same function as frills on a dress- nothing but decoration. Affie spiralled away, her shirt fanning out beautifully as she pranced across the marble floor. She did an excited little hop and grabbed Piper by the forearm.

"Oh, my! I can't contain myself much longer. We're going to be Miss Teen America!" She exploded into a firework of enthusiasm, fizzing and popping with excitement. Piper remained in her seat.

"I mean this means we will have to work harder than ever before, I've been consulting with a new dietician and dance choreographer. And you'll be needing a better makeup artist and new dresses. Oh my god, we will need so many new dresses!"

Piper stood frozen. Miss Teen America was the biggest underage pageant in a country full of underage pageants. If she did win, and her mother didn't condone losing, Piper would never escape. The winner had a year of touring, a year of appearances and smiling, of opening small time businesses and village halls. She would have to pass back the crown, she would never be free of it. Oh God, Oh God, she couldn't do this. It was too much.

"Piper!" her mother's voice went from excited teenage garble to professional mom at lightning speed. "You can't leave me now, baby. This is our big dream, remember?" Affie's claws pushed tightly into Piper's shoulders, pushing her back into her dressing table stool.

Piper retained her own eye contact. She didn't know who she was looking at in the mirror.

This wasn't her dream. Her throat felt tight. She didn't want to do this. Her breathing became a conscious movement. She couldn't do this. Her ribs felt too tight on her lungs. She didn't know what she wanted to do if she had a choice. Her hands were trembling in her lap.

Piper had never said no to her mother.

She didn't know if she could.

She gazed up into her mother's sapphire eyes.

"This_ is _our dream, isn't it, hunny?"

"Of course it is. I'm so excited." Piper lied.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

High tech sound systems do not make comfortable sleeping cushions, Leo mused. He roused and cracked his knuckles as the truck's engine spluttered to a halt. He hammered on the drivers cab.

"Hurry up, Ernie. It's Miss Teen America, all the ladies are waiting for Leo!"

Ernie snorted into his greying moustache. He had picked Leo up as an apprentice six months ago after watching in admiration as Leo broke into a truckers haunt to steal a sleeping bag and packet of M&amp;Ms, pausing only to fix the broken fuse in a headlight. The kid livened his lonely job up, and in exchange for food and a place to sleep Ernie rarely had to do his job.

Leo fiddled idly with a handful of knuts and bolts- screwing and unscrewing instinctively. He stared up in awe at the humongous building. He had a friend back home who could have ranted for hours about the architecture of the place It was a gigantic auditorium, having stood there for only a decade it had a modern façade, with glass windows covering the entirety and sleek metal revolving doors swung under a huge pink banner. The banner read "Miss Teen America 2014" in glittery cursive. Leo let loose a low impressed whistle.

Ernie had done this gig a thousand times over but he smiled at the young man's wonder. Leo made a step in the direction of the grandiose main entrance. Ernie grabbed him by the scruff of the neck. "Whoa there, bucko. We ain't royalty. They gots a back entrance for the likes of us."

Leo's smile faltered. He was such an idiot, of course a runaway Latino grease-monkey wouldn't be allowed into a gilded foyer. He put an extra bounce into his step to prove that he wasn't bothered.

The grin that was on Leos face as he walked through the storeroom was genuine. He had been lead into a dream world of wires, microphones, switchboards and speakers. Every last piece was the latest technology, there was no second rate rusty crap in there. He felt his eyes weren't big enough and his brain wasn't fast enough to take in what was surrounding him.

Ernie showed him where the speakers were to be stored when they were packed out of the truck. He began to whittle off a list of jobs Leo had to do, Leo wouldn't remember any of it but he would see what needed to be done and do it. Ernie playfully held up a finger in warning when he saw Leo eying up the firework machine that would shoot out sparklers when the winner would be announced. He left Leo with a word of warning.

"And if any of them beauty queens want anything fixed, you better have it done before they have the time to finish their sentence, kapeesh?"

Leo gave an entirely serious salute and dashed off to be alone for hours with his favourite type of person: machines.

Hours or days could have passed for all that Leo noticed, Leo was absorbed in his own world of technology and wires, repairing and advancing. At some time, (late in the evening according to Leo's personal clock- his stomach) Leo felt a presence at his shoulder and launched into an Ernie update.

"So I was shifting out the microphones and noticed the dust would totally clog up the sound so I've cleaned one out then saw how much more convenient it would be to have sound control IN the device. And I swear to God I didn't try to test out the fireworks."

Leo spoke at an 100 mile an hour rate, still facing into the underside of an electric ramp. He turned when he didn't hear Ernies approving grunts but heard an indignant "humph".

"Well, boy, I didn't ask for the update that I don't give a shit about."

The man was wearing a tailored suit, his shirt was nearly as artificially white as his teeth. He had pushed dark Ray-Ban sunglasses back into his coiffed hairdo. His spiteful eyes stared straight through Leo, smug and superior simultaneously. His "mysterious British spy/male model" image was ruined by the pink laminated pass that hung from his neck. Writing under the Miss Teen America logo of a tiara declared him as Cupid, a personal assistant. In Leo's opinion Cupid sounded a bit like a stripper's stage name.

Cupid frowned in disdain at the smudges of oil on Leo's forehead where he had wiped away sweat absentmindedly. Leo gazed at him in absurd belief.

"The lights in dressing room 9 are flickering."

Leo kept staring.

"They need to be fixed." Cupid drawled the sentence out as if speaking to a mentally incompetent child. Leo remembered Ernie's advice and set the cogs in his brain whirring as he tried to remember his manners.

"NOW!" he roared, pointing to the door. Leo ran out, despite having no idea where the dressing rooms were.

Leo used the sound of high pitched voices and strong stench of perfume to guide him, he found the dressing rooms quickly.

Leo paused outside the door with a large '9' in a star on the lavender door. Leo was renowned for his lack of tact but he did now a thing or two about not getting beat up. He knew that it was a bad idea to enter a room when sounds of shrieks and smashing could be heard. He pressed his face up by the door to hear what was going on. Under the exclaims of "I cannot believe you could be so disobedient." Leo could faintly hear sobbing.

The next shout was dangerously close to his ear.

"You better have rethought your opinions by the time I get back."

Leo leapt back from the opening door. He had just witnessed this woman scream bloody murder and he still managed to be mesmerised by her beauty.

She was hot, hella hot. Especially for an older lady. She made forty look like the new twenty. There wasn't a blonde hair out of place. Her teeth were as pearly as her earrings. She wore a printed dress that on anyone else would have looked tacky but she made it work. This woman looked like a goddess.

Leo's mouth was hanging open.

"You better be here to fix these lights, boy. I told Cupid to get them fixed a damn hour ago."

Leo replied with an intelligence remark like "Uhh, yeah." He sidestepped past her into the room.

The immense dressing room was a mess. Clothes were strewn everywhere. A rack of dresses was overturned, lines of hair products and makeup had been knocked over like dominoes, pieces of fluff were spilled out of the cushioned stool that had one leg snapped off as if whacked down on the floor.

The biggest mess was the girl sitting in with her back pressed up against the wall. Her face was puffy from crying, and she was concentrated on her shaking hands, breathing in and counting under her breath. She counted to seven, held for three and would count back down from 7 again. She was absorbed entirely in calming herself. Even with the messy makeup and shaky sobs, this girl was pretty. If her mom was gorgeous then she was beautiful.

Leo was never good at people. He often wished that he'd been born later so that robots were a fully established part of society and he could avoid people completely. Emotions were another thing Leo was bad at, he couldn't figure out how to _fix_ them. If a problem can't be remedied by fiddling with his fingers and some elbow grease, Leo was not your man for job. Leo would also often imagine himself as a girl magnet, but it was just imagining.

Leo was utterly lost when it came to crying girls.

The door shut behind him with a bang. Piper (her name was on the back of her chair) She was trying her best to cry quietly, but failing. She looked up at the sound, startled.

Leo was unsure of what to do. He hadn't expected to walk into the aftermath of an argument. Piper had noticed him by this point, her watery kaleidoscope eyes followed him across the room. She sniffled and wiped her eyes and nose on her sleeve. The awkward silence marred by the screech of wood on wood as Leo dragged a heavy chair across the floor.

Stretching his skinny arms to their max and using screwdrivers from his tool-belt, Leo fiddled with the light. His back turned to the beauty queen, a sob rocked through Piper. Leo made a joke before he could even stop himself.

"Hey. It's just a blown fuse. No need to cry, not really."

Leo swivelled around with a bashful grin. Mahogany eyes met rainbow.

Piper snorted. A fantastic, horrendously unattractive sound. Her nose was still running from crying, making her laugh throaty and deep. Piper didn't care, she was puffy eyed and red cheeked, there was no going back to pretending to be pretty in front of this boy. She let her ugliness seep out.

Leo frantically tried to maintain the conversation.

"So, um, your mom seemed pissed. Uh, want to talk about it?"

He stepped down from the chair, the light-bulb fixed and mentally prepared for the princess to through him out of her dressing room for being nosy.

A sigh left Pipers already deflated shoulders.

"I tried to stand up to her. Again."

Leo sprung up. "Oh yeah?"

Piper hesitated.

Leo fiddled his fingers, he opened his mouth to speak but didn't know how to encourage Piper to confide in him. He swirled his fidgety hands to continue. He slid his scrawny backside onto the table. He chanced a kind word.

"Pipes, you can tell me- you know if you'd like to. Its not like there's anybody who would listen to me if I did say anything."

"I don't even know your name and you already have a nickname for me." Piper said in mock offense.

"Leo" he said.

"Right. I'm Piper, clearly." She tapped the chair with her name on it.

The awkward air resettled. They both glanced around the room. Leo wanted to leave but knew that he couldn't- no, that he _shouldn't._

Piper muffled a cry.

"It's just," she stood up, her chair flying backwards. "It's just that she doesn't care about me. She cares about me, the beauty queen who brings her money and glory and gets all the chances she never had growing up. But not _me. _She doesn't give a crap about Piper the Person. I'm beginning to think I don't even have a personality, I'm all the fake stuff I recite on stage to sound good. Do you know how long I've been doing these pageants for?"

She didn't wait for an answer. "Since I was four. Four years old! I've never even been to proper school, only god-awful tutors! I've never known anyone my age outside of these world of **pink."**

Leo swallowed loudly. Channels of tears were rushing down her face.

"Every girl wants to be pretty but I want to tell them to have it. Fucking take it! If this is what being pretty gets me then I don't want it." She paused to shakily wipe her tears.

"but, b-but, pretty is all I have. I am only a pretty face. I can't do anything else. I'm not smart or funny or sporty, I have to be pretty or else I'm nothing."

Piper was babbling hysterically by then.

"It's a lie. I'm not even pretty, and all I have is pretty. If I was pretty why would I need all this? All this makeup and hair-dye and second place trophies."

Leo sat stunned by her rant. He didn't know how a girl could be so full of so many emotions and not explode. Well, he thought to himself, I guess she is exploding now.

"I want to escape all this." She sobbed into her hands.

Leo may be clueless at emotional girls and solving problems but he was an expert in two areas: machines, and running away. Leo had ran away from foster homes, state homes and homeless shelters a grand total of twenty three times. He sometimes joked that he didn't like having to say goodbye. That wasn't the whole truth.

Leo puffed out his chest in a superhero stance.

"Well in that case it's a lucky thing you are in the presence of a mighty master of runaways. But I prefer Leo."

Piper's sculpted eyebrows popped up in surprise as her brain comprehended what Leo had said.

"Are you being serious?"

Leo lounged back in nonchalance. "Of course, what's one more to my list?"

"How do I know this isn't a mean trick?"

Leo frowned in thought. "Er, you don't. Why would I trick you?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Piper was beginning to think that he was joking with her, solutions like that didn't plop into peoples' lap like that.

"Ok. I promise I am being serious. I will help you run away."

Piper tackled Leo in a hug. She was warm and smelled of sugary perfumed shampoo and spicy flowers. The last person to have hugged Leo was his mother. His friends generally avoided hugs, with their histories physical affection was usually uncomfortable. Leo's mother had died half of his lifetime ago. He patted Piper's back like it was a Labradors head. He didn't know what to do.

There was a knock at the door. Piper leaped back at lightning speed. Leo sprung back to 'fixing' the light-bulb. Cupid had returned, he gave an annoyed sigh at Piper's weepy face.

"What are you still doing here?" he demanded, directing his shout at Leo.

"All done now, sir!"

Piper was beginning to slowly tidy up her messy room. She caught Leo's eye as he was leaving and gave the tiniest of smiles. Leo gave a salute from behind Cupid's back as he backed out the door.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Days had passed in a blur of forcing herself to get through all the dance lessons and rehearsals while finding the time to steal away to talk with Leo at any moment she could. The two were complete opposites, different pasts and personalities, but the flow of talking never lulled, together they had a never-ending supply of conversation topics.

Piper paced in her dressing room. Her lurid diamante encrusted dress fanned behind her as she muttered under her breath, the dress probably cost as much a monthly households income. (Piper was never certain where her mothers money came from, but she suspected wealthy businessmen "friends") Her heels clacked on the linoleum, walking in heels was as natural to Piper as breathing. She couldn't remember ever learning to walk in heels, she had all her life.

Leo had passed Piper briefly as she walked to her dance practice, he said he would come for her at 3. He was going to tell her his plan for her grand runaway. But it was 4.28 according to the magenta clock on the wall, Piper had to be onstage at half four to run through the opening ceremony. She nervously ran her acrylic nails through the perfect blond curls that nestled at her dark collarbones. Breaking rules still caused her breath to hitch and her hands to stumble. She couldn't shake off the worrisome thoughts of her mother screaming at her, and of every doll like head turning simultaneously to glare at her for interrupting the rehearsal.

She glanced at the clock again. She was offically late.

Knock.

Piper took a breath and prepared, she opened her door. The corridor was empty. She raised her eyebrows and turned back to her pacing.

Knock, knock, knock.

The sound was more fervent this time. Again, the corridor was deserted.

Piper thought of every horror movie she had ever watched (and she had watched *a lot* of movies, cross country plane journeys are long and boring)

The knocking reverberated through her dressing room again, but this time accompanied by a muffled shout. Piper swivveled her head upwards towards the noise and gasped in surprise.

Leo was sprawled starfish style across the skylight. It was a wonder that his grin didn't break his face in two.

He beckoned for her to join him. From 20 feet in the air. She shook her head in amazement at his stupidity. She twirled her finger round by the temple of her head and mouthed the words "You are crazy" upwards at him.

Leo carefully prised open the window a fraction and a napkin floated down. Written messily in pencil was "fire escape lader at bak of danse studo." She directed a quick thumbs up towards the ceiling to prove she understood.

Kicking off her shoes Piper ran out and down to the door leading outside to a yard holding the garbage bins. Counting the windows she found the aforementioned fire escape ladder and nimbly ascended.

Leo was standing amid the air conditioning fans and generators. He raised his hands like a preacher and screamed "Beauty Queen!" Piper punched him softly in the arm and said "Repair Boy."

Leo crossed his legs as he sat down in the roof, Piper mirrored his movements. "Why are we hanging out on the roof?"

Leo leaned back as if he had been asked the meaning of life and knew the exact answer.

"Well, young grasshopper, nobody ever thinks to check the roof. Nobody ever looks _up_, they're too busy with whats going on down there." He pointed to the ground. From the roof, the silver garbage bins looked like shiny coins.

A memory resurfaced in Piper's mind.

She was seven years old. Thirty similar girls were huddled backstage waiting to go onstage for the costume section of the pageant. Piper was, predictably, a princess. She wore a floozy pink and purple gown that poofed out when she spun around. She had spun around for her mother earlier that day, Affie had clapped her hands in delight and called her 'Mommy's prettiest princess'. This had been back when Piper had hung on and blindly believed every word her mother said. Piper was waiting patiently for her turn like a good little girl. She gazed around with wonder at the tall lights high up in the stage until she spotted a monkey. At least she thought it was a monkey, what else could have such curly hair and and climb up so high? The boy swung with ease from one bar to another. Piper watched in open mouthed amazement. He caught her staring and flashed her a gapped toothed grin. Piper tried to return the smile but it hurt because she had to wear dentures to cover up her own baby teeth that had fallen out.

Piper's pensive expression snapped back to normal and she pointed at Leo. "Ohmygod! We have met before, when we were seven! At the Little Miss Texas quarter finals 2006!"

A crease formed in between Leos eyebrows, "That was the first time i helped out at a show."

"Really?" Piper said.

"Yeah! I bunked off school to go see the big attraction. I was still living with my foster par-" Leo cut himself off before he finished his sentence.

His bright eyes dimmed slightly.

"Foster parents? What happened with them?" Genuine concern emanated from Piper's kaleidoscope eyes.

"They didn't do their job properly." That was a nice way to describe hating a little boy so much that every cupboard in the kitchen was padlocked so that Leo wouldn't cost them a penny more than they received for him.

Piper's concerned expression looked like she wanted to ask more but didn't because of the hard glint in Leo's eye.

"So I hitchhiked on the highway to hell." Leo said with a humourless laugh.

Piper pulled the sheets towards her. She had to admit, it was impressive. He had maps and plans.

Leo rocket launched into an explanation. Producing a pencil from hidden inside his curls, he drew a line on the maps of what route to take. They would leave in the late hours of Thursday night, which with the current day being Tuesday was as soon as possible. They planned to sneak into the walled yard where the company cars and buses were parked, the quickest way to the main road where they could hitch a ride with any of the truckers who slept in their cabins on the roadside.

Piper didn't notice the gaps and flaws of this plan, she didn't care that it was all a big "what if". The slim chance of success didn't matter because it was her first chance. A week ago, Piper didn't know if she was a reckless person. She had simply never been given the opportunity to make her own decisions. She didn't care if this was a crazy reckless decision, it was _her_ decision.

Pipers smile widened and widened as he explained his plan with maps, diagrams and flow charts (granted the latter wasn't necessary but it made his risky basic plan appear more thought out.

The sun was high in the afternoon air, Piper had her back to it. The beams of her smile cast as much warmth on Leo as the beams of sunshine.

Leo continued in his hundred mile an hour speech.

"We'll need to find money somehow of course. That's always the hardest bit."

Piper stopped him. "I have money."

Leo scratched the back of his head. "Er, I wasn't expecting you to actually y'know, contribute."

Leo's olive cheeks grew steadily redder. Money would forever be an awkward subject for him. It was something that was never abundant in his life, and always played a controlling role in decisions. His mom would take on extra shifts at work so they he could get a proper present for Christmas. Any of the homes he had been dropped into would complain about the cost of another mouth to feed. Leo would never stop being shocked at rich peoples' apathy to money.

Leo remembered one time while he was doing errands at a pageant a receipt had fluttered out from a bundle of recycling. The single bill was for $3,000. Leo wasn't good at math but that seemed like enough to live on for nearly half a year. And what had these people spent $3000 on? Hair extensions. One packet of genuine human hair. Leo had been fuming as he lugged the bundles of cardboard down the chute. Even now, years later, he still marvelled at rich people's disregard for money. Here Piper was basically _throwing_ her money at him.

"Look, Leo. If you don't want it, just say so." Piper interrupted his brood. "For the person who's running away I'm not doing much of anything." Her bright eyes were sharp. "The least I can do is give away some of the damned money I've won in these stupid competitions."

Leo smirked. Piper was always getting angry at him. Leo didn't enjoy being screamed at for being late but he knew that Piper only let her emotions show with people she was comfortable around. In backwards fashion, Piper complimented Leo by insulting him.


	4. Chapter 4

Piper couldn't sleep. She wriggled her toes. She tossed from her side to her back to her other side. She repeatedly told herself to get to sleep because she didn't know when she next would. Then she would get that shiver of anticipation all over again. It was all so unknown, Piper itched to prepare, to be doing something, anything. She itched to go. She turned to face her alarm clock, in the darkness she could decipher that the Hello Kitty hands were pointing towards 1am. She was grateful that she didn't have to share a room. The organisation provided single rooms for the contestant since there was a nasty incident involving a hair straightener and some third degree 'accidental' burns.

Piper fell back on her bed with a sigh. She tried to imagine what adventures Leo and her would have. She had a brief flash of them jumping into a moving train like the heroes of an action movie. Piper smiled to herself, knowing that the reality will be a million times more fun and thrilling. Shaking her head suddenly she was seized with an urge to sleep. She put headphones on but didn't have the patience to listen to lyrics. She stood up to double, no triple check, that she had all her essentials in her backpack. She had specially bought the black backpack for her running away outfit. All her own bags were too ostentatious, if she wanted to live the renegade lifestyle then she had to lie low to keep up the cover. Whatever the cover was, Leo probably had it planned.

She was ready to go. Piper had a bounce in her step as she slowly inched the door close and bounced like a doe down the corridor. Getting down the corridor was the trickiest part, at any time one of the many doors could open. Behind every pastel door was a fellow contestant, who by default despised her. Piper held her breath and listened intently for any indicators of disturbance. The empty corridors had never seemed so long. Her palms felt sweaty, had she really only been walking for a minute? At last there was a light at the end of the tunnel, literally as there was an exit sign hanging above the heavy door.

Piper cringed as the door squawked in rusty disapproval as she pried it open. A dark shadow leaped playfully from the night air. Piper muffled a scream and punched Leo lightly in the arm.

"You look different. In a nice way." Leo said, looking pointedly at Piper's outfit. Piper had swapped her usual style of dresses and flashy velour tracksuits for a more ordinary teenager clothes. Khaki pants clung to her narrow hips and a big denim jacket was thrown over a red raglan t-shirt. Leo thought that she looked prettier then than when she was like a doll in a cocktail dress, but Leo thought that every girl who gave him the time of day was beautiful.

"Did you cut your hair?" Leo blurted. "Oh, yeah." Piper said nonchalantly. "I left my extensions behind." She sadly ran her fingers through her scraggly split ends. "I guess I don't need to be pretty where we are going." Leo nodded quickly. He thought of that day with the receipt and the hair extensions. Leo wondered if Piper knew what she was really getting herself into, he hoped he wouldn't grow to regret his offer. The pair set off for the short walk to the bus stop, careful to walk around the pools of light from the streetlights.

_Ernies POV_

Ernie stepped out of the cab of his truck at exactly 3am. At the far side of 50, Ernie was a creature of habit. He favoured routine and couldn't change it now. That was why he always favoured sleeping in his truck rather than a hotel. He wasn't open to new experiences at his age, and a strange hotel room was one of them. In Ernie's truck he knew what every shadow was, and he had the only seet of keys to the door.

To Ernie, waking at 3 was less of a habit, more of an unconscious jolt. It had been the time that every night, every single night, Ernie's wife would wake to check on their daughter- their paraplegically paralysed daughter. A freak accident with a collapsing roof rafter had left their toddler paralysed from the chest down. Ernie's wife Maureen had always been a worrier, for the three years Alice had been paralysed Maureen would check in the night that the machine that helped her breathe was working.

That was until the power went in the early night, no time to fix up a generator and too late to get to a hospital. Ernie woke at 3am that night and every night since. The loss of a child can ruin the best of relationships, and Ernie's and Maureen's crumbled. They blamed each other and they blamed themselves. Ernie lived the life of a nomadic hermit maintenance man since Maureen left his life.

It was solitary until a year ago he picked up a teenager hitchhiker, who mended his broken radio upon entering the truck. Leo accepted his offer of an 'apprenticeship' on the grounds that they drove to New York regularly, he also said something about accepting payment for his brilliance in M&amp;Ms or $100 dollar bills.

Ernie couldn't help but feel a pang of betrayal as he squinted out in to the yard that had always been deserted at 3am. Leo was sneaking across the pavement. Ernie had always known the boy was a runaway, and that he wouldn't likely remain in one place. Ernie had, perhaps optimistically, assumed the boy would give him an explanation or at least a goodbye. Ernie continued to watch and spied a blonde head slipping out the contestants' back door. The two greeted each other like excited puppies, and Ernie hoped Leo knew what he was getting himself into.

Ernie sighed, and pulled his sleep warmed blanket over him, resigning to the quiet sadness of solidarity.


	5. Chapter 5

Piper and Leo sat three quarters of the way down the bus their heads bowed in exhaustion. Relaxed fists still held folded one way ticket in their laps. The motorway began to blur by, houses melting into industrial estates, industrial estates melting into fields. The black road stayed constant and never changing.

Leo attempted to stretch his legs but they banged into the upholstery back of the chair in front of his. There was no air conditioning in the rackety bus, Leo pushed damp curls away from his forehead. "We would never have this problem in my truck. Baby is fully air conditioned."

"You've a truck? But you're barely sixteen." Piper said in disbelief.

"Yeah! Well, I fixed her up, the ownership is sketchy. The Argo II can easily fit eight _and_ it has a soda machine. My baby's back home though." Leo said with a faraway look.

"In Mexico?" Piper said in confusion.

"Don't be racist, Princess. I've never even been to Mexico, no. Home is New York, at CHB."

"CHB?" Piper echoed.

"Yeah, I don't know what it means either. Percy and Annabeth think it's funnier if I keep guessing at it."

"No, I meant what is that place?" Piper was mystified.

Leo stroked an imaginary beard, but he did in fact seem to be thinking.

"It's like a camp or a refuge, that's what you'd think from the outside but it's more like a dysfunctional family. The unofficial leaders are Annabeth and Percy, Annabeth's the brains of it all, and Percy acts like a goof most of the time but he would fight for every person at CHB."

Leo looked out the window, trying to piece together the story to tell the expectant Piper.

"Annabeth ran away when she was seven, everybody there is a runaway or worse by the way. So she trekked across the country with a hammer and a spunky attitude. She ran into Thalia and Luke, who looked out for her. The three of them knew that there was a newly abandoned hotel out on Long Island, too far out for anyone to be there already and isolated enough to not get asked questions. Then they started doing what I guess you could only call 'recruiting' other waifs and strays. On one condition: that the person had something that would benefit CHB like smart at a certain thing, good at cooking, or fixing things like me! Thalia developed a test to sort people into groups so we could work together on projects, support each other, birds of a feather flock together and all that. There are twelve corridors so each group has one, like Corridor One, Two, Three."

"What group are you in?" Piper said.

Leo paused, and grinned proudly, "I'm actually Head Counsellor of Corridor Seven!"

"Wow, well done." Piper exclaimed, smiling too widely. Piper had begun to worry, a thread of dread winding itself into a knot in her stomach. She was scared that there wouldn't be a place for her at Leo's home. She had no skills that would be of help to anyone. She would be forced to be sent back to her mother when they realised how absolutely useless she was with real life skills.

Leo had continued to speak of CHB, his face full of happiness. "…we roast marshmallows and sing songs around the campfire, it's not as cheesy as it sounds-"

Piper interrupted. "If you said Annabeth and Percy are the leaders then what happened to Luke and Thaila?"

Leo looked shifty. "I don't know the full story but Thalia was offered a place at this all girls school up state. We all thought they were gonna offer the scholarship to Annabeth but in the end it was Thalia who went. Annabeth calls the school "The Hunt"."

"Why?" Piper laughed.

"Because when they offer you a place they don't take no for an answer, and its up in the mountains someplace." Piper thought that she liked this Annabeth girl already.

"And Luke?" she prompted

"Luke, ugh, where to start. That guy was trouble towards the end, or so I'm told. Basically, he began to disagree with how the place was run. He thought people shouldn't be allowed leave, in case they ratted and all of us got sent back to foster homes or crappy parents. He does have a good point there, and all the kids who had really bad experiences before CHB sided with him. Percy, he's close with his mom, totally disagreed and thought we should all have the choice to leave. He said we should all have the choice to leave and trust each other to keep CHB a secret."

Leo jumped in his seat like he had been shocked, "Oh MAN! This one time Percy shouted at Luke and says "It's a community not a fucking cult!" It was so loud people on the other side of the hotel heard it."

Piper resisted the urge to grind her teeth, Leo never seemed to get to the important details in a story. "So who won, Luke or Percy?"

"Luke did himself in. He rallied all his friends and they spent a night vandalising foster homes all around New York. I'm talking thousands of dollars damage. Luke had some dodgy gang friends who helped him out. But they scampered when the cops arrived. Luke is in juvie now, but the saddest part is all the kids who helped Luke are right back in foster homes again."

Piper thought about this. A natural silence drifted between them. The rumble of the bus' wheels and engine mingling with the sleepy murmurs of passengers conversations. The hem of the horizon was fraying to a light grey.

Leo spoke in an uncharacteristically slow tone. "CHB is a home worth fighting for. You'll see that when you meet the family."

The sombre hush of their words spurred Piper to voice a question she had been wondering for weeks.

"What about your real family?"

Leo was too tired to spin a ridiculous story. Pipers eyes bled sincerity, she deserved truth.

"I never tried to find my dad, he left when I was a baby."

Leo squeezed his face with his hands. "My mom- she, she died. Her garage caught fire. She was locked inside, I couldn't open the door, it was so heavy I tried and tried but then the flames started melting the handle. I had to run. I had to- I had to leave her."

Leo's brown eyes were crumpled in familiar sadness rather than crinkled in their usual laughter. Piper knew that saying the right thing was important. He right thing to say, was sometimes, to say nothing.

Leo nudged Piper with a pointy elbow.

"What about you?"

Piper scoffed. "You know all about my mom. I was the result of one of her many affairs, with a failed actor. Mom said hes 'too drugged up to pay child support'." Piper made quotation marks in the air.

"You're surname's McClean though, right? And your dads an actor? What if he's THE Tristan McClean?"

Piper laughed out loud, thinking of the buff action movie star.

"Dream on, Valdez. My dad is probably spaced out in some Hollywood rehab."

They shared a miserable laugh at the state of their lives. They stared out the highway once again. The tip of the sun was shimmering soft light.

Piper turned to Leo. "Did I tell you about that time Macy from Alabama went bald the night before the final show?"

The mischievous glint relighted in Leo' eye.

"You haven't. And I'm insulted you haven't shared it before now. "

Piper flashed her pearly whites and launched into story telling mode. "It all started with a simple shampoo mix-up.."

The sun had fully risen and played on their laughing faces.


	6. Chapter 6

There was a shop in the next bus station. Piper, who had never travelled by public transport before, didn't know if this was the usual or not. It didn't matter because that extremely long bus journey had no air conditioning, and Leo had eaten the snacks in the first twenty minutes.

Piper's hand automatically reached for the bottled water in the drinks cooler. She hovered over it, and with a smirk her hand skimmed over to the fizzy drinks where she grabbed a bottle of Coca Cola. She couldn't help but rebelliously laugh, it wasn't even a _Diet_ Coke. Leo shot her an 'act normal' look, slightly hypocritical as he was carrying five share bags of M&amp;Ms.

"I've never been allowed junk food, until now." Piper said defensively. She banged two packets of Skittles down on the counter as an afterthought.

Piper and Leo sat on a graffiti-ed bench by the sunny side of the bus station. They feverishly munched into their high sugar, high additive, high everything-except-vitamins snacks. The clear morning sunshine danced into their eyes. Parallel to the benches taxi cabs had parked, waiting for customers with windows rolled down. The hairy armed taxi drivers had all congregated towards the far side, slurping their 11am coffee. A song on the radio changed and wafted out to the pair.

Leo's ears perked up like a dog catching a scent. Beyonce's 'Single Ladies' was blasting out.

"Oh MAN! This is my _jam_!" Leo roared.

Piper's Coke spluttered out her nose at his random enthusiasm. Leo moved his hands in a poor imitation of the dance move. He stopped with a serious expression and faced Piper again.

"Did you know I'm actually related to Beyonce?" he said.

Piper managed to keep a poker face. "Oh yeah? You never said." She turned and bit her lip from laughing.

Leo continued. "Yeah well my second cousin by marriage, Ric, his neighbour runs this salon, right? And Beyonce goes there all the time, well like maybe once, but aren't we like basically related?"

Piper tilted her head sarcastically, "Yeah I can really see the resemblance."

"She's from Heuston too, y'know."

Piper could not hold in her laughter for any longer. She doubled over in loud cackles, a genuine laugh, the polar opposite of her usual high restrained giggles.

"Whatver you say, Leonce." Piper rebutted. Leo joined in the laughter too, scaring a nearby pigeon into flight.

Piper leaned back into the sun warmed wood of the bench, warmth glowing on her face, the sugary taste of forbidden Skittles on her lips, her belly aching from laughing.

"If running away is this much fun, I should have done it years ago." She thought to herself.

Leo excused himself to visit the bathroom. He didn't exactly say "excuse me" he said something closer to "theres no way I'm going to sit in the back of a truck for six hours without emptying the tanks first" and scampered off.

Piper didn't mind, she remained in the bench that was in such a spot that nobody would walk past but she could easily people watch from her vantage point.

Piper watched in interest at a mother who was struggling to keep a toddler in his pushchair, said toddlers hands and face were covered in chocolate. Piper thought it might've seemed too obvious that the child was on a sugar high and wanted to run around. Piper vowed to herself that she wouldn't have kids until she knew and understood what they wanted.

A little old lady was hobbling across the street, dragging a tartan trolley behind her. She was almost like a cliche so helpless and fragile, waiting for a passing boy scout to help her cross the road. The contents of the old lady's handbag spilled- hankies, wrapped sweets and bundled up receipts falling and rolling on the pavement. Piper was on the verge of getting up and helping this defenceless creature when the weight on the bench shifted.

Piper stiffened. Her breath catching and her shoulders hunching, she froze. She hadn't noticed the man who sat beside her. She had heard no footsteps and saw nothing out of the corner of her eye. Piper glanced out of the corner of the eye.

The man was young, not a teenager but he wasn't a creepy old man. His weak jaw was flaked with stubble, blonde hair swept across his forehead.

Piper shodded herself for getting scared of a stranger. It wasn't nice to be suspicious and this wasn't a creep, just a guy that needed somewhere to sit.

Piper ignored the voice that reminded her that, at 11am, the bus station and area was hardly at rush hour, that there were ten other empty benches.

Piper hadn't had much contact with men in her life, she had a majorly feminine upbringing, she often assumed that every rule was different for men. This of course was not true, the rules were the same, but men didn't agree that the rules applied to all men. Piper didn't know if it was common practice for strange men to introduce themselves to 15 year old girls sitting alone. Piper's natural response from toddlerhood was to smile widely when she felt like running away (generally offstage).

The man offered his hand for a handshake.

"Hi there, I saw you here and I couldn't let a pretty girl like yourself be all alone, now could I? I'm Octavian."

His pale hand was clammy. His handshake was weak.

"Piper." She replied, her smiling turning from polite to uneasy.

His eyes unsettled Piper. They were pale blue, like a city pond. His eyelashes were so pale they were almost translucent, but it was the glint that scared Piper. The hungry glint in his eyes threatened to flip to violence if Piper gave a single wrong answer. Piper felt that she had been cornered with a beast that would only release her by force.

Piper knew now that this was a Bad situation. She didn't know much about males by personal experience but she knew that they ever only wanted one thing. Piper cursed herself again for buying into all the crap her mother ever said, all the makeup and hair dye and workouts she was coerced into doing. All to make her more appealing to the male judges of the beauty contestants. Piper hated being beautiful for men.

Octavian sat so his whole body gravitated towards Piper, who faced forward and straight.

Octavian was close, too close. He leaned in towards Piper.

"Now I wonder what a pretty little blonde like you is doing all alone."

Octavian picked up a strand of her hair that cascaded loosely around her shoulders and twirled it between his thumb and forefinger.

"You wouldn't be running away now would you? You're not being a naughty girl are you?"

An involuntary shiver ran down Piper. She remained frozen, breathing was a concept as forgotten as Atlantis to her at this point.

"Oh baby you're not cold are you? Do you need a man to keep you warm?"

The pale freckled back of his hand slithered onto Pipers thigh. Piper felt like she was watching the entire experience from above. That this wasn't happening to her, that this creep didn't have his sweaty palms on her leg, and that she wasn't helplessly stuck.

Pipers battled with her brain to focus, to do something, to form some action. She searched for any sign of people, the old woman had hobbled away without her noticing, the taxi drivers were too far away to hear anything other than loud scream. Piper didn't think she could choke out a whisper, her throat had glued in fright.

"Where was Leo?" Piper wondered, what could he be doing that could be taking him so long? Piper needed someone, anyone to help her here but she was on her own. To be on her own, making independent decisions on her own two feet, had been the aim of running away. Her prize of running away had now flipped into a punishment.

The cogs in Pipers brain whirred into motion, regaining her ability to think. She slapped Octavian's hand away and stood up suddenly. Proud of her courage for standing up to him Piper naively expected Octavian to leave her alone. That by slapping his hand away and looking uncomfortable she had sorted the problem.

"Hey, hey, hey! Where you going so fast?" Octavian grabbed onto her arm tightly.

"My friends are waiting for me, I've got to go. Like right now." Piper swung her bag and took a step.

"You've nowhere to go, baby. Come with me, I'll show you to my place and we can see if blondes really do have more fun." He crooned.

Piper felt a chunk of bile rise in her throat. Piper tried to flee, breaking into the beginnings of a sprint but Octavian was quicker.

Octavian lunged and clutched her by the wrist, twisting sharply. Piper screamed in pain but his baby soft hand clawed across her mouth. He dragged Piper back to the doorway alcove adjacent to the empty bench.

"I don't want to hurt you but if you're gonna play hard to get Im gonna have to play dirty too" he growled directly in front of her face.

He stood with his legs either side of Piper, who was pushed against the peeling paint of the emergency exit door. He gripped Pipers waist with his talons, trailing them downwards to rest on her toned ass. "God, you're so hot" He sighed.

Piper squirmed and turned her head away from him. Searching wildly for a way out. Octavian suddenly squeezed her ass strongly and something in Piper flipped. She swung her knee up to connect with his groin, she stamped and kicked and screamed. She wasn't strong but Octavian was bent double in pain. Piper pushed past him and ran.

Piper sprinted around the corner and crashed into a surprised Leo. She didn't have time to explain, she grasped Leos hand and urged him to run. As she ran she figured where she had to go. They stopped on a street of small shops. Piper found the drugstore and walked in at a normal pace.

Leo stood in front of her "Wayhey! Pipes, what happened? Why are you crying?" Piper touched her cheek, it was wet and she hadn't noticed.

Keeping her vow of honesty, Piper looked Leo in the eye and said, "There was a creep at the bus stop and now I'm going to change so I'm not pretty anymore."

Leo looked furious but knew that getting angry in a drugstore full of people wouldn't help to keep their low profile. He curled his fist and muttered angrily.

Piper walked into the drugstore with a gait that Leo had not expected from her but he recognised. It was a walk that said she had a purpose, nobody would get in her way.

She stalked down the hair dye aisle, plucking a box of dark brown that was similar to her natural colour. As a second thought she bought scissors too.

After sliding a ten dollar bill to the cashier, they walked further down the street. Leo grinned at the glowing golden arches, "It's never too early for McDonald's" he declared. Piper wasn't there for food, she walked through the deserted restaurant to the restrooms. Leo followed her diligently and Piper locked the door of the large disabled bathroom after motioning for Leo to follow her in.

Leo perched on the closed toilet seat as Piper paced the tiled floor.

"What did he do to you?" Leo demanded.

Piper ran her hands through her hair, speaking to the mirror.

"He-he grabbed me and he said lots of..stuff."

"What kind of stuff?" Leo's eyes were wide in horror.

"What kind of stuff do you think, Leo?!" Piper pointed to the mirror, "I look like i should be in Playboy Junior or something!"

Leo stood up. "I'm going to kill that scumbag I swear to god I will! Nobody talks to my friends like that. What did he look like? Tell me, Pipes!"

Piper faced Leo. "Don't bother there's nothing you can do now. I brought it onto myself by being such a dumb blonde."

Piper twirled the scissors in her hand. Piper clenched a handful of her hair, looking into the mirror she cut straight across. The blond hair fell from just below her ear into the sink. Leo gasped sharply from behind her. Piper finished the job, deftly snipping away most of her hair until the sink was blocked with blonde tendrils.

Piper began to shake the mixture for the hair dye with the brusque manner of a girl on a mission.

"Hair is so useless, isn't it?" Piper said conversationally but there was an edge to her tone. Leo agreed, unsure of where Piper was going with this topic.

"There's no point to it. No reason for it to exist, it's not good for anything except looking pretty." Piper sounded dangerous. Leo thought she wasn't talking about just hair anymore.

"If anyone were to come along there's no way it could protect itself, it's so useless. I was so useless. I froze up, I didn't fight him off because I'm weak as hell and I've never fought anyone. I wasn't able to come up with a smart plan because I'm dumb, I'm stupid, I'm just a stupid pretty face. The only thing I've ever had to make me different was being pretty but thats what got me in all this trouble." Piper was speaking quickly and feverishly.

"But you know what? I don't even want to be pretty so I'm not going to be anymore!" Piper shoke the mixing bottle one final vicious time and squirted it onto her head.

Snapping on protective gloves, Piper massaged the hair dye in. The acrid smell of chemicals flooded the little room.

Leo didn't know what to say or do. Piper turned and slumped down against the wall. Her face was red, her eyes puffy. The chocolate colour dye was slicked into her skull. She looked, simply, a mess.

Leo didn't initiate many hugs, but he felt that Piper needed one. She needed to know that there were still kind touches in this world Leo had dragged her into. Leo had dragged her into this.

She had nearly been hurt, forget nearly been hurt, Leo looked into her face ridden with sadness and self loathing, she _had_ been hurt.

Leo began to mumble "I should never have brought you along, you mightn't have been happy but at least this wouldn't have happened to you there." Piper glanced at him as if he was the crazy one now.

"I should've been there to help you, I could've stopped it. I should never have left you alone like that. If anything really terrible had happened to you it would be all my fault. Damn, this is all my fault." Leo was shaking his head at himself now. Piper opened her mouth to disagree but Leo cut across her. "If-if you got hurt really bad it would be my fault again, someone I love will be hurt because I couldn't get to help them on time. It's like my mom all over again. My aunt was right, I am a failure."

Piper pushed Leo back from their hug and looked into his eyes. "It's not your fault. Stop hating yourself."

Leo looked back into her eyes steadily. "It's not your fault either. You stop hating yourself and I will."

Piper let out a little laugh, "We're as pathetic as each other"

Leo couldn't help it, he let out a little gaspy laugh as well.


	7. Chapter 7

The McDonalds worker looked at them like the teenagers leaving with tear stained cheeks and wet hair weren't even the weirdest sight she'd seen so far today.

Piper giggled, "You know they probably think we were, y'know, making out back there."

Leo blushed, he couldn't help but cringing at that image. Leo loved Piper, he knew that for certain but imagining them as an actual couple seemed wrong. Their friendship was natural, and as much as Leo loved the ladies he valued it more. Piper felt the same, she had never had a boyfriend but she knew that impish joker wasn't her type.

They laughed awkwardly and exited the McDonalds with the feeling that they had exposed more of their emotions. They felt their link was stronger now. Piper had lost the giddy excitement she had been flooded with when she felt freedom for the first time. She left her mom and the beauty pageant world to live on her own in the real world. If being scared was the sacrifice for being free, then so be it.

As they walked, Leo explained that he knew a guy who was leaving for New York in an hour who didn't mind having some stowaways in the back of his truck. At Pipers edgy look Leo assured her that he knew this guy and he didn't give a crap as long as we didn't mess up his cargo.

"So," he added, "I always go out of my way to look at his cargo."

Leo stayed true to his word, the moment their trusty driver had shut the back truck door Leo pounced on the crates they were sharing the space with. Piper examined the addresses printed on the side, "They're all headed to different tourist shops. Hmmm.." Piper bit her lip thinking of the best way to discretely open the crates, Leo had already rammed the top open with a pocket knife he had in his toolbelt. The crate Piper opened was full of tiny little American flags on sticks, she wasn't overly intrigued by thousands of little flags. Leo had pulled out a Statue of Liberty snow globe from its bubblewrap and flipped it up and down quickly trying to stop the snow from gathering in one area. Piper cracked open another crate, after resealing the other. It was packed neatly with Native American headdresses, they were tacky and mass produced.

Piper had asked her mother once why she always wore a Pocahontas-esquecostume for the fancy dress section of a pageant. Affie had replied that her father had been Cherokee, that earthy colours suited her skin tone, and the judges loved that cultural stuff, like when an Asian girl dresses as a geisha. Burning with curiosity about her heritage, Piper had googled Cherokee tribes. From what Piper had read and researched she found the mass produced headresses kinda offensive, it irked her that little kids will be wearing those headdresses, and running about yodelling. That what the headdress meant to a tribe, as a symbol of a leader and a sacred thing, was wiped away by glueing synthetic feathers in a factory in China and selling it to Europeans for $12.99.

Piper plucked the headress nearest to her of its blue and white feathers- colours of the sky, like an eagles vision- she thought. Leo was disassembling a George Washington bobblehead, leaning his back against the metal wall, swaying with the motion of the traveling truck. Piper copied his position and pooled the feathers in her lap. She took a strand of her newly shorn hair in her hand, it felt strange, her neck felt bare and the absent weight around her shoulders was a peculiar sensation.

Piper began to plait a strand of hair, slipping the feather in and out and tying with another. Pioer did several little plaits until her arms ached from holding above her, and she grew bored of it. Leo complimented her new hairstyle.

Moments passed quietly, "I wish there was a window in here" Piper said, "It would be a bit impractical though, to be honest." Leo retorted. Piper sighed, "Yeah, I know but I love to look out and watch the world just fly by." Piper made a hand gesture like an airplane taking flight. Leo disagreed, "Naw, I like the metal. Keeps the world out and it keeps you in. Not that the door is locked, it's not." Leo said, pointing to the rattling end of the truck. "Even if it was locked I could pick it, I can pick every lock." Leo added as a smug afterthought.

It wasn't until later that Piper remembered what Leo had said about his mother's death, that he couldn't open the door in time. She thought of just how sad it actually was that he was an accomplished lock picker now.

Piper and Leo settled in for the long journey, the ride would be long and the day ahead even longer. Piper tried to rest her head against the side of the truck but the vibrations caused her teeth to chatter painfully. She tried to find a comfortable position, she huffed and the beginning of a complaint hung on her lips as she spied Leo. The sound of machines seemed to lull Leo to sleep, the scrawny boy was spread eagled on the ground, snoring rhythmically. Piper felt envious of his ease to fall asleep. She folded her jacket over her body, and using her backpack as a pillow she too fell asleep curled like a cat.

Leo woke as the engine cut. He tried to nudge Piper to consciousness, after a single gentle shake and a quiet "wake up", Leo jumped up and down by Pipers head and draped himself across her sleeping form, "Get uppppp, we're here!" He screamed. Piper woke with wild eyes, taking a few seconds to realise where she was and what was happening. Her little plaits had bunched up and knotted during her nap.

The bearded truck driver pulled up the door with a crash, sunlight rudely bursting into the shade of the truck. He crossed his thick hairy arms across his wide chest, directing a pointed look at Leo. Leo threw his hands in the air, "Fabio, have you no compassion in that cavernous heart of yours. Is this all just business to you?"

Fabio maintained his surly expression. "The money, Leo."

Leo bit his lip in pretend sorrow as he handed Fabio the wad of fives "You wound me, my friend."

Piper had put back on her jacket and backpack, she hopped down from the truck. She hadn't forgotten Octavian earlier that day, she stayed clear away from the muscly truck driver. Just in case.

Leo stretched with a loud yawn, his dramatic humour had well and truly returned. The truck had stopped in an industrial estate on the city outskirts, in the distance was the iconic New York skyline and buildings. Unfortunately, the only famous New York attraction surrounding the industrial estate was the infamous smoky and greasy stench, that attracted with it the tough city pigeons.

Piper giggled lightly as Leo took a large breath and spluttered. She felt more light hearted here. She was far away from the bench at the bus station with creepy Octavian, and even further away from the fake glamour of her mother and the pageant. She was a long way from Miss Teen America now, she thought happily admiring the chips wrapper that flapped past on a breeze.

"Fabio is as predictable as clockwork, he has dropped me and some friends off in this exact spot before." Leo said.

He scratched his head. "I think that the bus stop is that way." Leo pointed vaguely. They set off in that direction. Piper began to doubt Leos guidance after walking for twenty minutes along the side of the highway. The only progress was that they had left the industrial area into the suburban area. The pair didnt stand out, they couldve been just another teenagers walking home at dusk. Neither spoke as they peered curiously into the gardens and houses beyond the white picket fences. They knew that the other person was thinking about what it would have been like to grow up and live in a normal home, to have a full family that loved them, for their biggest worries to be studying for an algebra test.

Beside the grocery store was the allusive bus stop. Luck was on their side as the bus was pulling up. Piper had been on more different public transports in one day more than the rest of her entire life.

The bus journey ended as the sun began to descend in the sky. It dropped them off at the end of the line, at the edge of a cluster of houses on Long Island. Leo promised that he knew where to go, and that he even knew a shortcut so they would be as CHB in time for dinner.

Leo lead the way for Piper, trudging down a sandy path hidden behind a "no trespassing" sign. It led them through a forest filled with broad oaks and tall pines. Leo insisted that they were "literally just around the corner" with the manic tone of a man who was lost but wouldn't admit it. The path widened and the brambles thinned. Piper got her first glimpse of CHB.

The setting sun lit the windows afire, the building was gigantic and derelicit. The noise of a large amount of people contasted with the abandoned facade of the old hotel. It was seven stories high, built functionally in a sturdy block. The front garden and path was overgrown with weeds, reaching in height to Pipers hips. Despite this Piper had caught a glimpse of clothes fluttering on washing lines behind the building, and of vegetable patches in neat parallel rows. The battered front door had been sloppily repainted an eye watering orange. Piper let Leo guide her towards the entrance, she took a metaphorical step back as this was unfamiliar to her. Leo didn't bother to knock or ring a bell, he pushed the door open.


	8. Chapter 8

Leo had told Piper that Annabeth wanted to be an architect, that she even took online courses so she could get her high school diploma. Piper thought that she must love this hotel. The lobby was crumbling but immense, the high columns stretched to the sloped ceiling, where a chandelier had missing crystals and a soccer ball stuck in the bars. In between the six on either side columns were those tacky replica greek statues, of the gods probably. The "campers" didn't have much reverence for the statues as most of them were decked out in some sort of party gear, like feather boas, oversize sunglasses, leopard print cowboy hats, even . Any furniture that had been there once had been carted off to bedrooms or sacrificed in the name of a crazy project. The reception desk was a makeshift coat hanger (coat table?) Whatever artwork had hung above the reception was replaced by an orange bed sheet with "CHB" printed across it in black paint. A piece of paper was taped to the bell, "For bisiness inquiries dont ring the bell, just shout "Annabeth!" really loudly" it read in scrawly childish writing. The overall appearance was of a place where teenagers were in charge.

Leos had dropped his bag in the centre of the lobby. He cupped his hands around his mouth and took a deep breath. "ANNABETH! PERCY!" he hollered "LEOS HOME!" Piper covered her ears, that boy sure had volume for a person so small.

A crash as loud as a small earthquake reverberated through the building as a horde of teenagers raced down the grand staircases that stood at either side of the end of the rectangular lobby. The tall black haired skater boy leading the group must be Percy, as he greeted Leo with a shout and a one armed bro-hug. The other teenagers must be from Cabin 9 as they all spoke at once, launched into an explanation of what they were currently engineering.

"Dude, we are in the middle of the most epic ping pong battle to have ever existed in the history ever! C'mon, Grover is up next versus Will Solace!" Percy's dark tanned face broke into a grin and he pulled Leo along up the stairs.

Piper wasn't noticed until Annabeth walked down the opposite staircase to the one Percy and Leo were racing up.

Piper had imagined her differently from Leos stories. Her blonde hair was curly, and very clearly naturally looked like that. She wore torn denim jeans and an oversized tshirt. Piper had imagined someone more tough and mean looking to be able to organise a camp of teenagers, and survive away from home at seven years old. Annabeth looked like an all American girl next door type, not the "founding a homeless gang armed with just a hammer" type.

Annabeth eyed Piper with suspicion. "Who's this?" she spoke in Leo's direction but her eyes stayed trained on Piper. Piper saw what she had imagined in her eyes, the stormy grey colour held her under a steely gaze. Piper fidgeted nervously with the straps of her backpack. Annabeth walked down the final steps and they stood face to face. Piper noticed that Annabeth was slightly taller. The group on the stairs had ceased their chattering to watch the showdown.

"My name's Piper" she said in the tone she usually reserved for the girls at pageants who tried to win by intimidating the other contestants.

"Mine's Annabeth." Her eyes narrowed, scrutinizing Piper, attempting to deduce her motives.

"She's one of us" Leo said from the banister.

Annabeth looked up to Leo and they held a quick silent conversation. Annabeth trusted Leo, and if Leo trusted this girl then so would she.

She visibly relaxed, her gaze softened on Piper. "I'll give you the tour if those dorks are still playing ping pong."

Percy shouted over his shoulder "You love me really." Annabeth rolled her eyes fondly.

Piper and Annabeth ascended the stairs. As Annabeth launched into explaining the workings of CHB, Piper felt that she did this regularly. Annabeth began to explain how when she arrived her as a kid it was caked in dust, as they cleaned it it became obvious that the theme of the Olympian was all about Greek mythology. Annabeth thought this was interesting so she 'borrowed' some library books and that's where a lot of the inspiration for CHB came from. Annabeth explained that dividing campers into different groups was inspired by the different gods, she used herself as an example. Her room was in corridor 6, because she was intelligent she had chosen Athena as the god whose traits she valued. Piper fretted again about which corridor she would go into.

Annabeth navigated down a dizzingly amount of corners and identical corridors. She showed Piper the ballroom that was used as a gym, a burly girl was benching weights, Annabeth greeted her with a "Nice going, Clarisse." She showed her the dining room which had been renamed the mess hall because of all the food fights that had taken place there, some girls from corridor 4 were laying out mismatched cutlery while the boys flipped burgers in the kitchens. The conservatory had been adapted into a greenhouse that continued into the gardens, Annabeth spoke softly as the gardeners walked past her to wash before dinner, "You'd be amazed at the amount of people who love to garden after growing up around trash and concrete all their lives."

Piper liked the idea of these city urchins growing flowers, it reasserted that CHB was a good place. Annabeth expanded more on choosing your corridor, they didn't have one for the goddess Hera because she was the one for family unity and that was something nobody here had, so her statue had been smashed, and the rooms in her corridor used for anyone who wanted to chose another god to value. An emo kid named Nico had decided that Hades was his god of choice so the all black door with My Chemical Romance pumping out of it was his. Percy had chosen Poseidon because he said that surfing is close to skateboarding, and "his fork is hella cool".

Piper stopped in her tracks, Annabeth looked back and knew what she was going to say next. "Piper, don't worry if you don't know which one you want to go to. It's only to make this more fun, we don't actually worship those gods. I've been told I take this too serious, sorry."

Piper smiled at the other girls self conscious apology. "No, all that stuff is actually pretty cool, it does make it more fun. Its that..if all these groups are already so tight knit, if they're all best friends, wont they be bothered if I just barge in?"

Annabeth chuckled knowingly. "If I had a penny for every person who came here and was scared of being rejected, I'd have enough money to actually buy this place!"

Annabeth sat down on the floor in a seemingly random area. She motioned for Piper to follow her lead. Annabeth quizzed Piper, with simple questions like what's your favourite colour and what would you like to spend your time doing (Purple, and hanging out with friends) to more difficult and specific situational questions like "If you were lost in a forest what one thing would you wish for?" Piper answered with honesty. She had a feeling that this test served also as a way of getting to know the newbie.

Annabeth bounced up and pulled Piper to her feet. "Aphrodite, Goddess of love and beauty. Corridor 10, I'll show you." Annabeth had suspected Aphrodite for Piper the minute she saw her, sure she was wearing muddy jeans and a mans denim jacket, her hair looked like it had been hacked at with a garden shears but it was all in how she _walked._ She held herself tall even when the gaze of strangers bored into her, speaking to Piper she came to the conclusion that Piper was both sides of Aphrodite: love and beauty. Piper answered her questions with the love for her friends and situation coming first.

Piper dropped her head, "No, you've made a mistake I don't want to be in the one for beauty. Why can't I be in Athena with you? Or any of the other ones? Please?"

Annabeth scrutinised Piper, there was more to this girl than she was letting on. "It's not just about beauty, Piper. It's more about love- in every form. Maybe you could be the one to teach them it's not just about makeup and romance." Piper scoffed internally. She wasn't a leader or teacher type, mostly she stepped back and let the others fight without getting involved. As she thought this, A little voice in the back of her mind reminded Piper that she didn't have to be the same person here as she was back in the pageants.

Leo snuggled into the thick duvet of his bed in Corridor 9, his room was exactly how he left it: strewn with cogs and blueprints, his dresser was swapped for a worktable he fondly called Buford. The smell of corridor 9 hung in the air, faintly of oil and the tangy taste of metal mixed with a smoky scent, the smell of home. Leo clicked off his lamp and was drifting into slumber when from a nearby room came an almighty crash and a shout of pain followed by angry swears.

As Head Counsellor, Leo had an obligation to make sure nobody had been fatally maimed, and he secretly enjoyed laughing at the failure of someone's machine. He plopped his bare feet on the stained carpet and crossed the hall.

Piper tossed and turned in her new room, it was thankfully undecorated and as unoffensive as any hotel room. The bathroom was, weirdly, stocked with lots of tester sized beauty products. Piper room was cream and brown but the rest of Corridor 10 was entirely pink, or glitter, or pink glitter. Piper was amazed that she couldn't see a physical cloud in the air because of all the perfume scents forming into a single noxious sickly sweet scent. After Annabeth had shown Piper her room, she had to scamper off to do some other errand. Piper knew she had to fight her battles on her own but a friendly face would've been nice. The habitants of Corridor 10 were divided into two factions: the 'in' crowd and the outcasts. The cool girls watched Piper with vacant stares behind mascaraed eyes, popping gum as she walked past their cliques congregating in the corridors. The girls who hadnt been deemed worthy enough of friendships watched her from the doorways of their bedrooms, the girls with acne or chubby cheeks. One communal question transferred across the separation: which group would Piper slip into? A girl of 11 introduced herself as Lacy and helped Piper find her room. Piper looked at Lacy's scrawny calves clad in leggings and remembered that every person here was part of the unsavoury side of society. That they had run away from broken homes, alcoholic parents, abusive parents, god knows what else. Piper wanted to hug little Lacy with her ratty pigtails and underfed bones. Piper had been there for five minutes and she was already frustrated at the injustice of the clique system.

These girls who had left homes where they were ignored, and hurt emotionally, they didn't deserve to go from that to being excluded. Everybody here was an outcast in the eyes of society, but apparently hadn't learned compassion from that. Her thoughts were interrupted by a wave of loud giggles, Piper had the misfortune of having a room next to Drew, the most popular girl on Corridor 10. There were a dozen girls crammed into her fluffy bedroom having a slumber party. Piper had been asked to join but she had sighed a refusal and flopped down on her bed. It had been one of the longest days of her life, it was crazy to think that creepy Octavian had only been that morning. Pipers mind was too wired up to rest. She plopped her feet into her trainers and checked the Hello Kitty alarm clock she had brought with her. 11pm, perfect time for a walk around CHB.

Piper walked down the hallway and came to the end. There was a staircase leading down and one leading up, and another corridor stretched in front of her. From the stairway leading down Piper could hear dubstep pumping out of speakers, Corridor 7, she thought "Music, and healing" that was the largest corridor, with every room packed. Piper decided to avoid that many people. The stairs upwards led to 11 and 12, but Piper didnt fancy getting lost. Sticking closer she continued on straight.

She placed a step across the threshold and from her left came an almighty crash and a shout. Piper jumped out of her skin. She wondered if she had caused that, it wouldn't surprise her in the slightest if the Hepheastus corridor had rigged the floor with explosives to test if they worked. Leo burst out of the room to her right, his curly hair defying gravity and his eyes bleary with sleep. He didn't even see Piper standing there. He strode across the hallway and pushed open the other door. A slow trail of smoke wafted out when Leo opened the door.

"Godssakes, Shane! If you're going to try and rewire your television PLUG IT OUT!" Leo roared the last three words. From inside the room a muffled voice replied "I didn't think it would literally explode. Sorry, Leo."

Leo shoke his head in mock disappointment and sighed melodramatically. He shut Shane's door and turned, bashing into Piper.

"Oh hey, Beauty Queen." Leo said, looking down and smirking at Pipers cherry printed pajamas.

"I'm out for a walk." Piper said awkwardly.

"At 11 at night?" Leo quirked an eyebrow, "Yeah right. C'mon, step into the Leo Cave."

Piper noticed that Leo still wore his toolbelt on top of his pajamas, did he expect to do some quick repairs in his sleep? Piper followed Leo into his room, stepping over a pile of dirty laundry in the doorway. Leo whipped off a jumble of junk from an armchair and offered it to Piper, he perched himself on the edge of his bed. Despite being awake since 3am, the pair felt wide awake. Leo smiled widely showing every one of his teeth. "This place is great isn't it? I knew you'd love it."

Piper did love CHB, the builidng was crazy and chaotic, most of her corridor mates were ridiculous but despite that Piper loved the place. She loved the weird noises and smells in every different corridor. She loved the ruckus of the mess hall at dinner as a hundred teenagers ravaged into barrel loads of spaghetti bolognese. She loved the people, that every person under the crumbling roof was as broken as the piping but as vibrant as the orange CHB flag. There were the people who covered it up with a tough exterior like Clarisse, the ones who covered it up with jokes like Percy, the ones who blasted music too loud like corridor 7, even the girls who flocked around Drew because they would rather be in a mean group that excluded once more. CHB was mix matched, a patchwork of repairs and clutter and dirt, with an even more diverse patchwork of inhabitants. It was all so flawed, the opposite of perfection, Piper loved it with all her heart.

She nodded at Leo smiling and she knew that he knew.

Piper cleared her throat. "Thank you, Leo. For all of this" she waved her hand in the air "for bringing me here today, and thank you for being my first real friend thank you thank you." Leo leaned back down on his bed, in the darkness Piper could see his silhouette, when he didn't reply she thought he might have fallen back to sleep. "You're welcome, and..thank you too, Pipes." The room went quiet again, the only noise the light hum from the music vibrating up from the floor below them. Leo mumbled about boys and girls not being allowed sleep in the same room, which was very hypocritical of Percy and Annabeth. Piper wasn't listening.

Piper felt emotional, that day had been long and hard. The longest day of her life, probably. She suddenly felt awash with a pletude of emotions, her body went limp with exhaustion and she fell asleep right there in the armchair.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 8

Life at CHB was unlike anything Piper had known or heard of. The building bustled with activity from morning to midnight. There was a never ending competition that was fought through games and awards. Outdoor games like Capture the Flag, soccer, and if they were feeling immature, tag. In the evenings and downcast days, the games room was the hub of activity. People would gather around the ping pong, foozeball and pool tables. Awards were given in the form of extra desserts or similar privileges to corridors who won the most games or did the most cleaning in the week.

A charter of rules was tacked to the broken down elevators on every floor. This was completely disregarded and ignored, only consulted during arguments. The wifi password changed everyday, and had to be solved with a riddle. The wild nature of the days at CHB meant that there was never a boring moment, and that quiet spaces were cherished and protected.

Piper made the rookie mistake of walking through the Apollo corridor, her ears rang for the remainder of the day. Music blared from every room, different tastes clashing to form a sound similiar to a roaring football crowd. The Ares corridor were continually finding loopholes in the list of banned weapons. Their innovation towards violence would be almost inspirational if they weren't using the legs of their beds as throwing knifes at the Demeter Corridor, who spent the warm summer days bent over the vegetable patches and slowly de-weeding the garden. Piper had misplaced her watch, she was advised to ask the Hermes corridor. A chirpy blonde boy named Will Solace had shown her to a cupboard with hundreds of watches in neat lines. Piper was not impressed by this thievery, she snatched back her own brown leather watch and didn't return Will's cheery goodbye. The Hepheastus corridor wouldn't tell anyone how they fixed the elevator, or how they caused it to only go to their floor, or why it only played ACDC. The Artemis corridor was comprised of mainly unfriendly aloof girls who rarely bothered to get involved in activities unless a team badly needed help, they were somehow granted an exemption from the no pets rule and there was a flow of stray dogs, cats and some exotic runaway pets in their corridor. Annabeth claimed that Artemis corridor needed animals as a "psychological aid". Percy shared the Poseidon corridor with a handful of skater/surfer dudes. A sweet but simple boy named Tyson had shown Piper the aquarium that had been installed in his room by Percy himself, Piper thought then that there was more than the funny boy exterior to him. The entire Dionysus corridor was running a subtle and small black market of alcohol, cigarettes and according to rumour if you asked the right person the right question you could get weed for a drastically inflated price. Annabeth frequently raged at the Dionysus Corridor for this, that "providing people with gateway drugs isn't going to help anyone" and "don't tell me to calm down! I definitely don't need a joint to relax, Castor."

The Hera corridor was used by the Hades, Hecate, Nemesis people. The sole Hades occupant was a solemn Italian boy named Nico, Piper had sat beside him on the sidelines of the games room as another epic foozeball tournament was taking place. He had eyed her suspiciously for not keeping a distance like the rest. Piper sat in comfortable silence, cheering for Leo as he battled Percy. From sideways glances at Nico's face Piper picked up on that he had a crush on Percy. She kept it to herself. The boy didn't need more alienation.

Piper hadn't settled into the Aphrodite cabin, per say. She had talked to all the people individually, but as a hive mind the gossipy girls could be venomous. An example of this was Drew's treatment of younger or less pretty girls as beneath her. If the Aphrodite cabin maintained its award for most tidy, they got first use of the gym at whatever time they liked. Drew made the younger ones clean, take out trash and hoover the rooms of the more senior occupants. Piper had slammed the door in Drew's face when she knocked on the door with a duster in her hand and a sickly sweet smile.

Percy left on Tuesday. He split his time between CHB with Annabeth, and his skyscraper apartment that his mom lived in with an abusive asshole. He told this to Piper as she collided with him as he left the front door, Piper discovered the front door was rarely used, so she had inquired as to where he was going. Percy explained bitterly that his evil stepfather, Gabe, would call the social services if Percy disappeared for longer than a week. He didn't care about Percy but it was his mission to make Percy's mom's life miserable. Piper suspected that Percy also returned home to check up on his mother. Piper had also learned in her short time that the words "social services" in CHB were as feared as the SS in Nazi Germany.

Annabeth managed perfectly fine on her own, she even confided in Piper that she got more done when Percy wasn't enticing her with distractions. These 'distractions' were unnecessary things like sleeping and eating. Architecture blueprints wouldn't sustain her, Percy would say on an almost daily basis. Percy and Annabeth were the power couple of CHB, not even the most ambitious Aphrodite girl would dare to get between 'Percabeth'. They were scary on their own, but as a couple they were a force to be reckoned with, watching out for each other from simple things like not missing a meal to talking late into the night about the nightmares that came about their families.

The morning after Percy's departure, there was a peculiar occurrence. A boy arrived at the CHB front dooron his own. Piper had been reclining on the couch in Annabeth's room with Leo. The room was blissfully calm, the sounds were of Annabeth's pencil scribbling across the page, Leo mumbling to himself as he repaired an electric whisk and the faint murmur from Pipers headphones as she passed time on Netflix. A sweating Grover had pounded into the room, urging Annabeth to come quick. The trio exchanged a look and ran after Grover, following him to the lobby.

A new boy stood in the centre of the lobby, he had a wild look in his eyes that told that he had no idea what was going on. He was holding his stance as Clarisse held guard over him, swinging a crowbar.

Annabeth had snapped from the relaxed nerdy teenager she had been a moment ago to the tough erudite head of a homeless commune. Annabeth's steely eyes assessed the situation. She lightly touched Clarisse's arm, "Thanks, Clarisse. I can handle it from here." Clarisse reluctantly backed down from the possibility of a fight, but orders were orders, and Clarisse respected Annabeth.

Annabeth glared at the tall blonde. "What's your name?" Annabeth began her interrogation. "Jason." he replied. "Your full name." Annabeth demanded, beginning to slowly circle him. "Jason, um, Jason just Jason." Annabeth stiffened in further suspicion.

From the sidelines, Piper whispered a question to Leo "Why is Annabeth being so mean to him?" Leo looked at her like she was dumb, "Because, nobody should be able to stumble upon CHB without firstly knowing someone who knows where it is. Strangers don't just wander in. He could be anyone." Piper nodded, returning her attention to the commotion in the centre of the room.

Annabeth drew in a frustrated breath. "I'll ask you again, who told you how to come here?" Jason clenched his fists, and replied, "And I'll tell you again, I don't know." Annabeth released an annoyed sigh. "What do you mean? How can you not know?" Jason rolled his eyes, equally annoyed by her stupid questions. "I can't remember anything."

Annabeth laughed "Selective amnesia, is it? Don't waste our time, if you're working undercover for the cops we will make your life hell."

"I can remember being in a fight, I remember my life but not names or faces or places." Annabeth's face flickered with doubts and thoughts. "If you can remember your life, then tell us, do you have a home with your family?"

Jason shoke his head, answering truthfully "No, my home has never been with them."

Annabeth faced the little group that gathered to watch the confrontation. "I'm suspicious of this guy but we can't refuse him on that grounds, I mean technically he's one of us."

Piper examined Jason. He was blonde and classically handsome in every aspect- strong jaw, angular nose, bright eyes. He looked like he had escaped the pages of a fairy tale illustration. Except for his clothes- he wore thick grey sweatpants and a ratty blue hoody. His Adidas runners were caked in mud, and the sole was flapping slightly at the toe. He was assuredly homeless, yet he stood straight. He didn't fidget or avoid eye contact like many under scrutiny, he held his ground, like a superhero.

Annabeth pinched her brow. "Okay, gather the head counsellors. We need to have a meeting about this." She said. "Piper, you can give Jason the tour of CHB. Try and decide where he will go." Her eyes added another warning "Don't trust him"

Piper hadn't been at CHB for a full week yet, how could she show him around? Annabeth retreated up the left stairs to the games room, Piper took the opposite stairs. Piper could feel Jason's gaze boring into the back of her head as he followed her. She showed Jason the dining room, he looked uninterested. Jason made no attempt at small talk. Piper decided to use this time to also explore. She opened the doors across from the dining hall, they were dark. She stepped in groping for a light switch, Jason followed her in. "What room is this?" He said into the darkness. "I uh don't actually know." Piper refused to admit to this stranger that she was all new to this. Jason found the switch with ease and revealed that they were standing in a small airing cupboard. "Ah this makes sense because the laundry room is down the corridor."

She noticed too late that she was standing overly close to Jason, their toes and elbows touching. Jason had a quizzical expression, "Are you new here too?" He asked. Piper didn't try to deny it, she nodded. Jason laughed and Piper was glad to hear it. They emerged from the cupboard, more people were beginning to drift towards the dining hall for dinner. They glanced at Jason, mostly girls, in curiosity. The couple ignored the gazes. Piper began to explain the logisitics of CHB, and the different corridors. Jason waited until she had finished to speak. "I'm in Jupiter."

Piper looked confused. "As in the planet?" Jason looked amused but continued "No, as in the god. The head guy, with lightning bolts and control of the sky." Piper scrunched up her nose as she pictured the different statues in the lobby. Her eyes sprung open in recognition. "Oooooh! You mean Zeus." Jason agreed shaking his head furiously "Yeah, him! I don't know why I called him Jupiter."

Piper smiled kindly at him, "It's nothing, I thought you were talking about the planet!" They laughed again. "How do you know where you are supposed to go? Are you positive you haven't been here before?"

Jason looked lost, his eyes anxious as he tried to remember. "No. At least, I don't think so. This all seems familiar, but wrong somehow. Like I'm looking at the world through a mirror."

They paused at the top of the first stairs. Jason faced Piper. "Can we skip the tour? I can always ask you if I need to find a place." Piper didn't know if he was joking until he cracked a little smirk. "Will i show you to your room so?"

Jason followed Piper down the hallway, to the larger suites. Piper thought that it seemed only fair that the corridors with less people get bigger rooms. She skipped past the first door, which she knew to still belong to Thalia, and pushed open the second door. She held the door open as Jason inspected his room. Piper hovered in the doorway. "I'll go now, but I guess this won't be the last we see of each other."

Jason nodded absently, looking at the view from his windows. Piper closed the door gently, sensing that Jason might need some time with thoughts at the moment. She had taken a step when Jason's voice called down the hall. "Piper! Wait!" She liked how he said her name. "Do you think you could, I mean would you like to, if you're not busy, maybe we could hang out, like now?" Piper giggled, "Sure thing."

Jason's room had a couch and coffee table, a luxury that the corridors further up the scale had. Piper settled herself down in the cushions, crossing her ankles out of habit. Jason stared at Piper oddly. She couldn't read the expression on his face. "What?" She said, coughing an awkward laugh.

Jason squinted. "You're different to most people here. Not in a bad way, you act different."

Piper didn't know what Jason was trying to say. "What do you mean? I am like everyone here, just another sad homeless teenager."

Jason shook his head. "Nope. No, you're not. Why are you here, why aren't you with your family?"

Piper hadn't discussed running away with anyone since she came to CHB, she didn't want the embarrassing attention. She fiddled with the hem of her shirt, thinking of how to explain.

"Have you ever seen Toddlers in Tiaras?" Piper said. Jason's eyes widened in comprehension. "Yeah well, that was my life from the age of six. Ten years of being forced to smile and dance and flounce with sparkles in my blonde hair got tiring. I snapped, and Leo was there to give me an escape route."

Jason stared at Piper. He had not been expecting that. He took a second look at Piper, at her dark chopped hair, the stain on her jeans, the pimples on her forehead, the thin cardigan she wore over a tshirt. He couldn't associate the pictures of showy little girls wearing fake eyelashes with the girl beside him. There was, however, something in how she stood, in the tilt of her chin, that said she was familiar with attention. That she had a grace she chose not to share. Jason had suspected that she came from an aristocratic family, and ran away from an arranged marriage or something, but _beauty pageants_. That was a different kettle of fish altogether.

"Like Honey Boo Boo?" Jason said.

Piper laughed her genuine throaty guffaw. "Yeah, exactly like that."

They laughed at the absurdity of the situation.

Piper rounded on Jason. "Alright. I've told you mine, you tell me yours."

"I told you before, I can't remember."

Piper held up a single finger. "Nuh uh! You said you couldn't remember names or short term memory. You do remember your childhood."

Had Jason been more immature, he would have stuck his tongue out at her retort.

"You've heard those stories of parents sending their children to military school when they are almost still a toddler?" Piper said she had. "Yeah, well that's why I ran away."

"Wow." Piper breathed.

"Yep. Five years ago I left it all, my parents and the military school. I came to, I came to- ugh why can't I remember the name!?"

Piper smiled encouragingly, for Jason to talk more about his life. They talked for hours, missing dinner and missing the after dinner games. Jason was such a gentleman that he insisted on walking Piper back to her room.


End file.
